Felix Passlack Is the Heir Apparent to Lukasz Piszczek for Borussia Dortmund

When Bayern Munich's new head coach Carlo Ancelotti learned of Borussia Dortmund's lineup for the DFL-Supercup on Sunday, the highly decorated Italian may well have hesitated a moment. At right-back for the Black and Yellows, the teamsheet listed Felix Passlack.

Now, that isn't to say that the 57-year-old doesn't prepare properly, even though the game is barely more than a glorified friendly, but it probably still came as a surprise to see an 18-year-old starting the game over veteran full-back Lukasz Piszczek.

With the Bavarians deploying arguably their best left-wing combination of David Alaba and Franck Ribery, it would have been understandable had Passlack struggled a bit in his first start at right-back at the senior level.

What actually happened, however, was an encouraging performance Dortmund fans will have gladly noticed. Head coach Thomas Tuchel had only two words on his impressive youngster, per the club's official website: "Very good."

Most onlookers agreed with the 42-year-old. ESPN FC's Stefan Buczko rated Passlack's performance at eight out of 10, noting that he "turned in a very mature performance in the right-back position" and "reaffirmed his strong showings from the friendlies."

Matthias Dersch of local paper Ruhr Nachrichten (link in German), meanwhile, ranked him as the top outfield player for the Black and Yellows on the day, arguing it was Passlack's best showing at the professional level to this point.

Somewhat surprisingly, it was the Germany youth international's defensive stability that impressed fans and analysts alike, not necessarily his contribution to a Dortmund attack that could—and perhaps even should—have won them the game.

Even at 33 years of age, Ribery remains a daunting matchup even for experienced defenders, so seeing Passlack dominate the Frenchman was fairly impressive. Whether it was shoving him off the ball, putting his body between Ribery and the ball or winning sprints against the winger, Passlack dominated.

He frustrated his opponent so much with his physicality that the Bayern star lashed out at him with his elbow shortly before the half-hour mark, which, there can be little doubt, should have led to a sending off.

"

This is the coming together which saw both Ribéry AND Passlack booked (@amadoit__) pic.twitter.com/CM6wNqWIdT

— Onefootball (@Onefootball) August 14, 2016"

"There could not be a better compliment for Felix Passlack [than] when such a player commits violent conduct," team captain Marcel Schmelzer said after the game, per ESPN FC's Stephan Uersfeld.

To the 18-year-old's credit, he didn't allow the incident to get into his head. He kept on playing in the same aggressive way that had infuriated Ribery in the first place. That goes for his defensive work and, less surprisingly, for his attacking contribution as well.

Passlack made countless runs into the space behind Bayern's left-winger, occupying Alaba defensively, and the Austrian subsequently had a fairly quiet match. Showing improved technique in terms of his first touch and passing, the right-back was fully integrated into the game plan, as evidenced by his 85 touches, more than any Bayern player had and the third-most on his team, per WhoScored.com.

Of course, not everything came off, with Passlack taking one or two hopeful attempts from distance too many and his crosses not always finding a man in the middle, but that is to be expected.

He did, however, have one of the better chances of the game, forcing Manuel Neuer into a good save in the second half, as the video below shows around the 1:55-mark.

In that sequence, the 18-year-old made good use of his attacking instincts, popping up in a rather unusual area for a right-back. Of course, Passlack is a fairly unusual right-back himself.

Having played as a winger for most of his career at the youth level, the Bottrop native could presumably find a home as an attacker somewhere in the Bundesliga. His productivity for Dortmund's academy teams, where he's scored 42 and assisted another 39 goals in three consecutive title-winning seasons, per Transfermarkt, speaks volumes, especially considering how rarely Passlack gets to play in a central role.

Superb balance and a low centre of gravity allow him to be an adequate dribbler even though his technical abilities are well below those of fellow academy product Christian Pulisic or even Mario Gotze, whom he's regularly compared to despite the two players being nothing alike.

His athleticism paired with great enthusiasm make Passlack a human dynamo on the field, a player who never seems to slow down. Tenacious and dynamic, it's no wonder Tuchel considers his 18-year-old a potential starter at full-back.

Passlack himself told the club's official website that the role "is not so new for me, I feel comfortable in that position."

Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images

He ought to be, seeing as it's quite clearly the spot on the pitch that could garner him the most playing time this season. Dortmund don't have great cover behind Piszczek, who didn't play against Bayern because he only returned from an extended vacation following Poland's heartbreaking Euro 2016 exit against eventual winners Portugal in the quarter-finals.

Matthias Ginter, who impressed out wide for stretches of the first half of the season, will fight for gold at the Olympics with Germany at the weekend and was thus unavailable in the Supercup as well.

The 22-year-old, however, will presumably be needed at centre-back this season. The Black and Yellows only have him and fellow Olympian Sven Bender as experienced cover for presumptive starters Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Marc Bartra.

The 2014 FIFA World Cup champion also remains at the centre of near constant speculation, with German sport magazine Kicker reporting in their Thursday edition that Bundesliga newcomers RB Leipzig have joined VfL Wolfsburg and Hamburger SV as suitors for the versatile Germany international.

Erik Durm, meanwhile, underwent surgery on his damaged knee once more this week, with "reports in the German media [indicating] that the full-back is likely to be absent for several months," per Uersfeld. The 24-year-old was yet to join his team-mates in training, having spent the entirety of pre-season working more or less by himself.

Since the Brazil World Cup, the full-back has missed 46 matches across competitions due to various injuries, per Transfermarkt. Given his newest injury woes, there's no telling what shape he'll return to the team in and when.

That leaves Piszczek and Passlack for the right-back position—a link between Dortmund and Juventus defender Stephan Lichtsteiner, reported by Camillo Forte of Tuttosport (link in Italian), seems more than unlikely.

The Poland international has declined over the years and never reached the level of the magical 2012/13 UEFA Champions League run following hip surgery, but, to his credit, he improved over the second half of last season under Tuchel, despite playing at centre-back in a three-man defence in a few games.

Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

The 31-year-old is one of the most experienced players in the squad and for that alone remains valuable, but it stands to reason that he'll need to rest every now and then, which should give Passlack ample opportunity to cut his teeth at the senior level.

There are few better right-backs to learn from than Piszczek, especially considering he also had to learn the nuances of the position relatively late in his development. Dortmund's No. 26, remember, joined Hertha BSC as a striker out of Poland's Ekstraklasa and only became a defender towards the end of a relatively unimpressive career at the capital club.

Piszczek ended up as one of Europe's finest full-backs and, even though it's far too early to put that kind of pressure on his young shoulders, Passlack looks destined to follow in his footsteps.

Lars Pollmann also writes for YellowWallPod.com. You can follow him on Twitter.